Worlds Collide Harm(fully)(lessly)
by Pey119
Summary: Sequel to Lives Collide Harm(fully)(lessly). Will and Annabeth are finally putting their plan into action to peacefully coexist with the wizards.
1. Chapter 1

Nico di Angelo's dreams had kept getting weirder, more strange, more inhuman as Voldemort tried to convince him they were of the same monster. Murderer, he liked to say. Half-blood in both senses. Only half of a race but every bit as capable to take it down.

It had started last year, these nightmares, these terrifying thoughts provoked by Voldemort himself. It was the same year he had been attacked by a group of Emposia, the same year both of his worlds finally started creeping together.

And it was because of this other world of his that Voldemort sought his help, the help of a demigod-wizard, the blood of the di Angelo's and the blood of the gods. Nico kept declining the offer, on some weak nights saying he'd think about it, and in turn kept the usual nightmares to a common feat. But the promise of learning more about his mother wouldn't die easily.

This dream, deep in the comfort of the Burrow, was different than the others. This dream was live. This dream was from Voldemort's point of view, his gravely voice and execution orders coming from Nico's own lips. It was Hell. When he woke up drenched in the sweat of his rearranged, de-aged body, he felt like he couldn't speak without still sounding like the Dark Lord.

Avada Kedavra...the killing curse...Nico didn't so much as mouth it in fear that his old wandless magic would come back and kill the boy in the other bed. But it was what he had said, what Voldemort had said, in a dream he couldn't forget.

Unknown to him, Harry Potter had the same dream miles away. But his dream was different, was from a different point of view, showed Nico's face mixed with the inhumane face of Lord Voldemort.

* * *

The summer days had passed quickly. Going between the Burrow and Camp Half-Blood, spending time with the boyfriend he never should have departed from, teaching younger and younger kids as the gods had more and more affairs. He couldn't be alone with any of the demigods, especially the children of Athena, but he learned to take this in a comforting way instead of an insult.

It was he that had almost committed murder, after all, not the others. He couldn't complain.

Hazel's daughter had been born, a little girl named Nicole Hope Levesque who looked just like her mother in any way a newborn could. When Nico asked about the name, Hazel just asked why she _wouldn't_ name her child after him. He could think of many reasons but decided not to list them.

This event had thrown babysitting into the mix. Sure, he had spent his own time with Percy's son, but never had he actually been alone with one of the babies until Hazel decided it would be a good idea. Even though Nicole was only a couple weeks old at the time, she insisted that Nico got some bonding time in.

He didn't tell her, but that's how he ended up shadow traveling to England with a baby for the first time, only Persephone's blessing keeping him from messing up. Nico was a proud uncle, it turned out. He spent hours showing her off to the Weasley's before eventually bringing her back to Camp Jupiter, where Hazel and Frank had gotten a small house in the city.

But even the baby didn't keep the nightmares away. The summer months were warm and pleasant, full of new life and baby giggles, but Voldemort's ugly face never went away.

* * *

It was a week in early June when he first noticed that something was up with Annabeth and Will. He would see them come from secret meetings with Chiron, see Annabeth's head in different plans or books, see Will talking to a Hecate camper or two. Whenever he approached Will about it, the son of Apollo would find a reason to get out of the situation.

"Trust me, I've noticed it, too." Dominic said one night at the camp fire, his eyes on Will as he strummed at his guitar. "They're planning something."

"Do you know what?" Nico had asked.

Dominic shook his head. "But Chiron's in on it, which means it's something big."

"Something to do with me?"

"Maybe."

He approached Will about it the week after, made sure to trap him before he could run off. "William Solace, you're going to tell me what's going on."

Will had the decency to look ashamed as he glanced toward the door of the Hades cabin. "Nico, it's such a nice day...can't we go enjoy it?"

"Not until you answer my question." Nico crossed his arms. "What's going on? What are you and Annabeth planning? And how the hell did you get Chiron in on it?"

Will scratched the back of his neck. "It's...it's nothing bad, nothing to worry about. So-"

"William Solace, fucking answer me."

"Fine, fine." Will sat on Nico's bed and reached out to pet Anubis, a half-hellhound Nico had found in a wizarding shop in Diagon Alley. "It's...it's a plan Chiron said I can't say, but...but it's a plan to get the wizards and demigods to peacefully coexist."

"...And you didn't think to let me in on this?" Nico asked.

"They made me promise!" Will exclaimed. "They said you couldn't know because Dumbledore said that-"

"_Dumbledore_? You spoke to Dumbledore?" Nico shook his head in disbelief. "Will, you're playing with fire!"

"I know! But Chiron thinks this is the best option! The _only_ option!" Will stood up and paced. "It would show each of us that we mean no harm to each other. We're both just trying to survive. Because...because...it did get out, among the demigods. The Athena kids know."

Nico put his head in his hands. "I can't believe you didn't tell me..."

"I wasn't allowed to. I'm not even supposed to be saying this." Will put a hand on Nico's shoulder. "This is why. You're too emotionally attached."

"They're my _family_-"

"It's not a bad thing," Will assured. "It's good you like them, good you have a family. But you know how that can cloud your judgement."

"Because my main goal is protecting them! They're going through a war, Will. I'm focused on saving them, not making them happy with demigods."

"Exactly." Will hugged him. "You focus on that, we focus on this. That's the deal."

"It's a risk."

"I know."

"It could kill us all."

"I know."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Harry Potter's never been my main fandom so I've never been comfortable altering much in its universe, but I am in this story. So if things change that wouldn't happen in the books, I know it's different but it's just gonna be different in this series**

* * *

It was time for the World Cup and Nico still hadn't figured out exactly what Camp Half-Blood was planning. Despite the fact that he himself was the bridge between the worlds, something he had been working on for years, Chiron found it important to keep the details hidden from him.

"You'll see when the time's right," Chiron had said, "and only then. I can't have your loyalty getting in the way."

Yeah, that wasn't worrying at all.

"Honestly, I never saw you as one to have the same fatal flaw as Percy," Annabeth said in late August. She sat with little Silena, baby toys and blueprints spread out before her. "Loyalty...Nico di Angelo...it didn't use to mix."

Nico looked down at baby Nicole in his arms, having brought her over for a "play date with Silena". Yet honestly, it was more of an excuse to try and get some answers from Annabeth.

"It's a good change to see in you, Nico," Annabeth continued. "Fatal flaws...it's in the name. They can kill. If your fatal flaw kills you, isn't it so much better to die for loyalty than for a grudge?"

Nico looked down at little Nico Hope, knew he'd die for her in a heartbeat. "Yeah, I think so."

"Just go with what Chiron's planning," Annabeth recommended. "Trust me on it, Nico."

"Do you know what it is?" he asked.

She nodded. "I helped Will come up with it."

"And you really think it's for the best?"

"I do."

Nico looked at Annabeth, remembered the first day he met her and saw how much she had grown. Official Architect of Olympus, daughter of Athena, fellow survivor of Tartarus. "I trust you."

And he really did, something he never would have before his time in the wizarding world.

* * *

It was the night of the World Cup when he saw Death Eaters outside of his dreams for the first time. Mr. Weasley had hurried to get them out of the tent, away from the fleeing crowds, to safety somewhere Nico wasn't listening to. He wasn't scared of Voldemort's followers, but the boy he needed to protect was. So he stuck by Harry's side and tried to follow the other Weasley's to wherever they were going, but the crowd closed in.

There were screams, explosions, talk of what the Death Eaters were doing. Rounding up families of Muggles... It reminded Nico of his old life in Italy, the Nazis rounding up the Jews, killing them or taking them away... Or Hazel's stories of the KKK, the horrors her mother once told her...

Gritting his teeth, Nico melted into a shadow to go help any Muggles he could find.

* * *

Nico sat at the table in the Burrow, staring into his cup of tea as the others tried to calm Mrs. Weasley down. News of what had happened had spread over the wizarding world, reaching Mrs. Weasley before they ever could. Now they sat together, all okay but shaken up, trying to show her that they were okay.

"But this!" Mrs. Weasley took Nico's bruised face in her hands. "So you _did_ get hurt."

"I've been through worse," Nico assured her. "And everyone else is fine. It's nothing."

He thought back to that night, blending in with the other Death Eaters, taking them down from the inside out, shadow traveling innocents out... It had been _thrilling_. Especially when Good won over Evil.

"I'm okay," he repeated. "I really am."

Because he was. And as he shadow traveled to camp to see Will, he couldn't keep the smile of victory off his face.

Maybe he had made a decision, unconsciously. Maybe he really was meant to destroy Voldemort from the inside out.

It would be pretty entertaining.

As soon as he stepped foot in camp, Percy had thrown his arms around him and pulled him close.

"Umf! Percy!" Nico tried to step back but was unable to. "What the fuck is this about?"

"The World Cup!" Percy let him go and gave him a good look over. "You said you were going with your family and then the news came out that Death Eaters stormed it and I didn't hear from you for a whole night and _gods_, Nico, you can't do that to us! Hazel's worried sick!"

Nico blinked. "How the fuck did you find that out?"

Percy shoved a copy of a wizarding paper in Nico's face. "Chiron got this. You know how we've been talking with Dumbledore."

"Percy..." Nico sighed. "You really thought a few Death Eaters would kill me?"

"You're bruised."

Nico didn't have time to answer, instead getting thrown into another hug, this time Hazel latching herself onto him.

"Nico di Angelo!" she buried her face in his chest. "Next time, just let us know you're okay..."

"I will, I will." he kissed her head. "But you should know that I'm stronger than to fall to them."

She hugged him for a minute more before pulling away. "Same with school. Keep in touch. Please."

"I will, I promise."

But not on the Styx. Because he had things to do, something he finally decided to go through with. Because taking the system down from the inside out seemed too perfect.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: so sorry for such a long wait and short chapter. Hopefully the next one will be up soon.**

**And a note on ages...I had already changed the time of each series since I made them both exist at the same time, so I also changed some more so that the ages add up for what is revealed in this chapter**

* * *

Nico went to bed that night knowing very well what he was doing. He knew _exactly_ what he was doing.

The nightmare occurred just like any other. Voldemort, his use of demigod dreams to get to Nico, his words and his tortures and his bribes. Eventually, Nico let himself break.

"Will you promise on the Styx to tell me about my mother?" he asked. "Everything you know about her?"

Voldemort's pride burned at Nico's soul. And as they made the deal on the Styx, Nico felt all his loved one's disappointment. As the Dark Mark burned into his arm, he swore to himself to not let anyone ever find out. And that night, Voldemort told him everything he had ever wanted to know about his family.

The family he now felt disappointed in.

Maria di Angelo, she had been part of a dark family. Death magic, necromancy, umbrakinesis. The name of her best friend, Tom Riddle, the friendship before and after his transfer into who he was known as.

Nico was shown the day she agreed to be one of the Death Eaters, the day she was given a mark on her arm just like his now. The day Voldemort died, her finally agreeing to go to America with Hades, her permanent departure from the wizarding world…

The mark burned, felt worse than when he had been clawed by that werewolf.

The mark burned, because the family circle was now complete.

And he didn't tell a soul.

* * *

On September first, Nico found himself aboard the Hogwarts express for his third term. Anubis sat next to him, his tail wagging as he stuffed his head out of the window. Hermione's cat was hissing at him for the first ten minutes but soon got used to the half hellhound.

Soon it started to rain and Nico had to pull Anubis in so they could close the window. Outside, Zeus's anger at who knows what roared through the sky.

"How was your time in America?" Hermione asked. "Nicole's healthy?"

Nico grinned at the mention of his niece. "She's nice and healthy. Still too small to do much, but her favorite toy is a penguin."

"And how about the monsters and wars?" she asked. "Any other gods causing trouble?"

"Not that I know of." Nico shrugged. "Things seem to be peaceful. But Will and Annabeth are up to something about joining our worlds."

"Joining our worlds…" Hermione looked to Ron. "Remember what your mom said? She said that something was happening at Hogwarts this year, didn't she? I wonder if it has something to do with the demigods."

"I really doubt that," Nico said. "I mean...she made it sound like a big thing. I don't know if the demigods would try a big thing…"

"But do you believe in coincidences?"

Nico frowned. "No, I don't."

It kept raining. Neville came in at some point but Nico didn't notice much. His arm burned but with no physical pain, his mind was on hiding his arm at all costs. Once again, he was the spy, the two timing traitor. He did what heroes refused to do.

_Not all heroes can be angels_, Hecate chimed in.

And if his mind wasn't on this horrid new reality, it was on what Mrs. Wesley had said before they left the station.

_"I'd invite you for Christmas but...well, I expect you're all going to want to stay at Hogwarts, what with...one thing or another."_

_"Mum! What'd you three know that we don't?" Ron had asked._

_"You'll find out this evening, I expect," said Mrs. Weasley, smiling. "It's going to be very exciting- mind you, I'm very glad they've changed the rules-"_

Then what Charlie had said, his smile and the look in his eyes.

_"I might be seeing you all sooner than you think," he had said. "Just don't tell Percy I mentioned it...its classified information, until such time as the Ministry sees fit to release it, after all."_

Hermione was right. It was too much of a coincidence for all of this to be happening the year that Will and Annabeth were putting their plan into action.

Then Draco Malfoy walked in.

"We saw him right up close, as well," Ron was telling Neville. "We were in the Top Box-"

"For the first and last time in your life, Weasley." Draco cut in.

"Don't remember asking you to join us," Harry said.

"Weasley...what is that?" Malfoy pointed out the sleeve of Ron's dress robes that was dangling from his trunk. Ron made to stuff the robes out of sight, but Malfoy grabbed it quickly. "Look at this! Weasley, you weren't thinking of wearing these, were you? I mean- they were very fashionable in about eighteen ninety…"

"Fuck off, Malfoy," Nico groaned. He had to remember to buy Ron new dress robes before whatever they needed them for came about.

"So...going to enter, Weasley? Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the family name?" Draco asked Nico. "Though you aren't a real Weasley, are you? Just a take in, an orphan."

"Are you asking? I think it's pretty obvious." Nico grabbed Anubis's collar as the hellhound started to set its eyes on Malfoy as if the blond boy was a new toy.

"What are you talking about?" Ron asked. "Enter?"

"Are you going to enter?" Malfoy repeated. "I suppose you will, Potter? You never miss a chance to show off, do you?"

"Either explain what you're on about or go away, Malfoy," Hermione said.

"Don't tell me you don't know?" he boasted. "You've got a father and a brother at the Ministry and your don't even know? My God, my father told me about it ages ago...heard it from Cornelius Fudge. But then, Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry… Maybe your father's too junior to know about it, Weasley...yes...they probably don't tall about important stuff in front of him…"

Nico watched lazily as Ron got up and slammed the door behind Malfoy's retreating form. "Don't let it get to you. He knows nothing about dad."

Dad. He had a mortal to call dad.

"Making it look like he knows everything and we don't…" Ron snarled. "'Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry'... Dad could've got a promotion any time...he just likes it where he is…"

"Of course he does," said Hermione quietly. "Don't let Malfoy get to you, Ron."

Ron turned to Nico. "You should have let Anubis get him!"

"And what? Let him be mauled and then face his father's wrath?" Nico scratched Anubis behind the ears. "I want Anubis to scare him, not kill him."

Anubis kept sniffing Nico's arm, his nose over the mark that hid beneath his sleeve. He didn't know what it smelled like to the hellhound, but apparently it was more interesting than the candy they had bought from the trolley.

"We don't need people like Malfoy to tell us about our family," Nico told Ron. "We know that dad's awesome. That's all that matters."

Ron grumbled beneath his breath but didn't mutter about Malfoy anymore. They all knew what position Lucius Malfoy held at the Ministry, but for now things were okay.


	4. Chapter 4

Nico sat at the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall, wringing his clothes out from the pounds of rain that decided to drop from the sky on their way from the train. His hair, soaked from its curls and sticking to his face, was the most agitating result of the storm.

As Nico looked around the hall, nothing seemed too unusual. The ghosts were messing with their respectful tables, most of the teachers were present. McGonagall was just starting her way in with the first years, their small forms even more soaked from their trip across the lake.

Dominic's empty seat was cold beside him. The Gryffindor table looked warm. As the sorting started and more children joined the school, Nico's mind was on his burning arm and how exactly the two worlds were going to meet. When the food finally appeared, it took the smell hitting his nose before he even noticed it.

The food finally disappeared after some time, Dumbledore standing up to address the students. "So! Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it. As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year. It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

Nico's lips twitched. That was certainly new. Faintly, he could hear Harry and Ron question the announcement.

"This is due to an event that will be starting in October," Dumbledore continued, "and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy — but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts —"

That was when Mad Eye Moody decided to make his entrance. At the sudden clap of thunder and bursting of the doors, Nico's right hand flinched toward his wand while his other moved toward his knife. But once he saw who it was that had made the entrance, he let his hands fall away from his weapons. He had heard about Mad Eye.

"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Dumbledore asked. "Professor Moody."

Silence. There was no clapping, no applause of any kind. The student body seemed to be in shock.

"As I was saying," Dumbledore continued, "we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

Nico felt himself pale, could feel the blood draining from his face. _That_ was it. That was what Mrs. Weasley and Charlie had been hinting toward.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, silencing the rumble of the students. "The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities — until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."

"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger. The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money.

"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts, the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age — that is to say, seventeen years or older — will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion. I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen."

Dumbledore caught Nico's eye. "Adding to the precautionary measures this year, we will have other guests that will act as bystanders and guards. They will help all young wizards who partake in the tournament come out alive. This October we will be welcoming our friends from America, the demigods of Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter. I hope you will all welcome the opportunity to learn more about another culture and species.

"They and the delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"

Nico's eyes didn't move from Dumbledore, didn't glance at any of the students as they made their way to their common rooms or mumbled about what a demigod was. He couldn't. Because for the first time in years, he was truly shocked. He had never seen it coming.

"Damn it, Annabeth."


	5. Chapter 5

That night, Nico laid in bed with his eyes on the ceiling above him. The Hufflepuff dormitories were warm, welcoming, the smell of home. They were usually all he needed to get a good night's rest, which was something that he once thought he'd never be graced with again. After Tartarus...

But things had changed, he had grown up in this world instead of that. He had learned that Tartarus was nothing more than a distant memory, a lesson stating that there is always something worse than death. And he could relax knowing that he would never go down there again. Because even though he promised to try and keep himself alive, he knew he'd rather surrender to death than go through it again.

And so the nights had gotten easier, he could sleep peacefully in places he called home. Hogwarts, the Burrow, his cabin, the Underworld. They were home. But here he was, in the warmest home he had, unable to close his eyes without seeing Voldemort's face.

Voldemort knew of demigods, he knew of their dreams and how to use them to show Nico whatever he wanted. What else did he know against him? What else would he use to bring down the wizarding world once and for all?

His movements reminded Nico too much of Adolf Hitler, the stories he had heard and the few memories of his first childhood in the forties. Once Italian, once unwillingly Nazi. Now a wizard, a death eater, a follower of the rising dark power again.

Nico hated it, he was ashamed of it. But that mark was permanent.

When he finally did let himself fall asleep and the dreams overtook him, he found himself watching another meeting of Voldemort and Wormtail.

"It could be done without Harry Potter, My Lord," Wormtail was saying.

"Without Harry Potter? I see . . ."

"My Lord, I do not say this out of concern for the boy!" Wormtail said. "The boy is nothing to me, nothing at all! It is merely that if we were to use another witch or wizard — any wizard — the thing could be done so much more quickly! If you allowed me to leave you for a short while — you know that I can disguise myself most effectively — I could be back here in as little as two days with a suitable person —"

"I could use another wizard," said the cold voice softly, "that is true. . . ."

"My Lord, it makes sense," Wormtail continued. "Laying hands on Harry Potter would be so difficult, he is so well protected —"

"And so you volunteer to go and fetch me a substitute? I wonder . . . perhaps the task of nursing me has become wearisome for you. Wormtail? Could this suggestion of abandoning the plan be nothing more than an attempt to desert me?"

"My Lord! I — I have no wish to leave you, none at all —"

"Do not lie to me! I can always tell, Wormtail! You are regretting that you ever returned to me. I revolt you. I see you flinch when you look at me, feel you shudder when you touch me. . . ."

"No! My devotion to Your Lordship —"

"Your devotion is nothing more than cowardice. You would not be here if you had anywhere else to go. How am I to survive without you, when I need feeding every few hours? Who is to milk Nagini?"

"But you seem so much stronger, My Lord —"

"Liar. I am no stronger, and a few days alone would be enough to rob me of the little health I have regained under your clumsy care. Silence!"

"I have my reasons for using the boy, as I have already explained to you, and I will use no other. I have waited thirteen years. A few more months will make no difference. As for the protection surrounding the boy, I believe my plan will be effective. All that is needed is a little courage from you, Wormtail — courage you will find, unless you wish to feel the full extent of Lord Voldemort's wrath — and Nico di Angelo. The demigod will lead the boy right into my hands."

Nico tried to close his eyes but found he couldn't, his gaze forever locked on his fake master and fellow slave.

Maybe he had made a mistake. Maybe he never should have went through with this plan. But if he hadn't, who else would?

He was the traitor, he was the spy, he did the dirty work. It was just how things went in war.

Wormtail was dismissed and soon enough, Nico found himself across from what used to be Tom Riddle.

"You're an interesting boy." Voldemort's voice was warmer than before but still colder than any other. "Betraying your friends, betraying your family, just to help your mother's old friend."

Nico tried to speak but his mouth remained shut.

"We will rule the world together, we will avenge Maria's death. Yes..." Voldemort's eyes gleamed, and for the first time, Nico saw humanity through that anger. "She will live again, just as I will."

Nico's blood froze. And through the haze of _holy shit, he might actually be somewhat human_, Nico realized that Voldemort spoke about Maria di Angelo in the same tone that Hades did.

* * *

The next morning at breakfast, Nico ate silently amid the boisterous Hufflepuff table. Everyone still eyed him, sometimes, and new kids would ask how the hell he was so different from the other Weasley's. Black hair, golden freckles, Hufflepuff, his mix of accents...

He didn't bother answering anyone who actually dared speak to him. His mind was too busy figuring out why there wasn't a solid line to separate good and evil.

They had Herbology with the Gryffindors first period. Nico could actually participate after Persephone's blessing but still hated anything to do with plants and their keeping. Especially magical plants. They were too messy, and according to all common sense, plants weren't supposed to be able to move. But there they were.

And then there was dinner, Malfoy's voice greeting Nico as soon as he stepped into the Great Hall.

"Your dad's in the paper, Weasley!" Malfoy was in front of Ron, the Daily Prophet in hand. "Listen to this!_ It seems as though the Ministry of Magic's troubles are not yet at an end, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Recently under fire for its poor crowd control at the Quidditch World Cup, and still unable to account for the disappearance of one of its witches, the Ministry was plunged into fresh embarrassment yesterday by the antics of Arnold Weasley, of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office_." Malfoy smirked. "Imagine them not even getting his name right, Weasley. It's almost as though he's a complete nonentity, isn't it?"

Anger fueled up in Nico's chest as he stomped over to the scene. Those who noticed him quickly retreated back.

"And there's a picture, Weasley!" Malfoy continued. "A picture of your parents outside their house — if you can call it a house! Your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?"

Nico clenched his fists as he reached them, momentarily seeing Ron's red face but not able to notice anything beside the fact that Malfoy's pale face looked so punchable. No one made fun of his family.

And in that anger, he couldn't help but wonder if it was the same protectiveness that had sent Voldemort over the edge, the hatred Maria and her family had been shown by the wizarding world, his love for her and the closeness he had to that family.

And with that one thought in mind, Nico's knuckles collided with Malfoy's nose.


	6. Chapter 6

Nico was too used to detention for it to bother him much. If anything, it just gave him more time to himself to think things over, try to remember how his life ever turned into this. Voldemort was close to his mother...were they...?

The thought made him sick enough to almost throw up. The last thing he needed was to question who his father really was. Or Bianca's. She may have gotten into Camp Half-Blood and joined the Hunters of Artemis, but she was never claimed and he never saw her use any powers of Hades.

Oh fuck, he did _not_ need this.

No gods came and said anything one way or another. Hecate didn't speak in his mind. She hadn't since he got that Death Mark on his arm. Even Persephone had nothing to say. Whether they thought he was stupid for even thinking about it or didn't want to tell him the truth, he'd never know. All he did know was that there were more serious things to worry about.

Like the upcoming war, his help in the end of his mother's old friend, Harry's potential death, the demigods coming to Hogwarts and his two worlds colliding.

Detention wasn't enough time to think about it all.

In Moody's class they were learning to fight the Imperius curse. Nico watched his fellow Hufflepuffs go up one by one, watched their weakness to it and the insane things Moody had them do. When it was finally Nico's turn to go up, he wasn't sure what to expect when the curse was landed on him. But what he didn't was the peace and lightness that suddenly enveloped him.

_Jump onto the desk . . . jump onto the desk. . . ._ Moody's voice echoed in his mind, made him want to do the action immediately. But Nico went up against Hades multiple times, used to decline Voldemort every night. He had the ability to stand up against Moody.

He stood there, unmoving, despite how many times the command was spoken into his ear. _Jump onto the desk . . . jump onto the desk. . . ._ He didn't move an inch.

The curse was lifted off him after some time. The class was silent, and Moody didn't take his gaze off him.

"Mr. Weasley...do you have experience with the Imperius curse?" Moody asked. There was something in his eyes that Nico didn't like, something he didn't trust.

"No, sir." Nico rubbed at his Dark Mark as it started to ache uncontrollably. "I'm just strong-willed."

"Many strong-willed wizards and witches fall victim to it." Moody looked him over once more before clearing his throat. "Sit, Weasley. You have peers who haven't had their turn yet."

Nico reluctantly sat back by his things, his gaze never leaving Moody's face as the old teacher called up the next Hufflepuff to participate. He was questioning why Nico didn't respond, but nobody was questioning why a teacher was using an illegal curse on them.

Class was soon over and the rest of the day went by as normal. Nico found himself in his dreams again that night, watching as Voldemort croaked orders from an old chair in an abandoned house. Wormtail was there again, begging, pleading, gasping in fear. It made Nico sick to think about.

"Wormtail, be gone," Voldemort ordered. "I need to speak to my boy alone."

_My boy._ If Nico was awake, he really would have puked.

Wormtail shuffled out of the room with some sort of limp, leaving Nico alone to stare at the rising dark lord.

"Nico, I have a task for you," Voldemort smiled. "And you will do it."

Nico tried to speak but couldn't. He never could in demigod dreams.

"Put Harry Potter's name in the Goblet of Fire," Voldemort ordered. "I need you to make sure he's chosen. Label him as from another school, just incase. Get him in that tournament."

Nico frowned, remembering why the tournament had been banned so many years in a row. The death rate...

"Do this, if you're really on my side. Do this."

Nico couldn't speak his affirmation but sent the confirmation through their link.

"Good...very good..." Voldemort hissed. "I will know if you fail me, Hades spawn. I will know. My empousa are on the lookout for the likes of you."

Nico remembered the time not too many years before when he was attacked by such creatures. He could still remember their claims at a new master, their fire and their talons and the way they felt racking against his chest.

"There has been a minor setback in the plans, however," Voldemort continued. "Other demigods will be joining the ranks in Hogwarts this year. It will be your job to keep them from ruining my plans. These are my orders, Nico di Angelo: get Harry in that tournament. Get him to the end. I will take it from there."

The dream evaporated after those last words, and Nico's eyes sprang open in that dark dormitory. He needed to keep doing Voldemort's bidding, had to keep at it if he was going to destroy him from the inside out as planned. Which meant...poor Harry...

_Persephone, are you there?_ Persephone had been in his mind ever since she had blessed him, this blessing the only reason he was still able to go at it today. His powers had been feeding on his lifeforce too much. _I need someone to talk to. Please._

It was silent for some time. Nico didn't think she was going to answer at all, but finally, her words came through.

_I am here, Nico, but I may not be able to help you much._

He sighed in relief. _Persephone...I'm my father's son, right?_

He could hear her laughs shake at his mind. _You really thought you weren't? I thought you were smarter than that, boy._

Nico rolled his eyes. _I was just making sure._

_Voldemort thinks you may be his, has some hope. But you are not, I can assure you. But he wants you to be._

Nico's face screwed up in disgust. _So he and my mother..._

_Yeah._

_Does Hades know?_

_I'm afraid so._

_That's disgusting_. Nico sat up in bed and surveyed the room around him. _I have to enter Harry in the tournament, don't I?_

_That is your decision, Nico. Whatever you think is best. But you know better than anyone how to be the traitor. You know what's most important in this line of work._

Nico scowled. _Shut up._

_I'm listing your strengths, what you need to be the kind of hero you are,_ Persephone said. _You are not Percy Jackson or Harry Potter. You're Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, Hufflepuff. Own who you are, Nico._

_And who I am is a traitor._

Persephone didn't answer again, and she didn't need to.


	7. Chapter 7

Nico tried to lay low, tried to keep out of suspicions, and it was mostly successful. He was a Weasley, after all. A Hufflepuff. Despite his dark appearance and old Heir-of-Slytherin vibes, it seemed that the Hogwarts population didn't mind him much. They didn't speak to him, he didn't speak to them, and the peace was mutual.

Except for the few friends he had and Draco Malfoy.

Lessons ended early the day the other schools would arrive. Nico had spent the whole day listening to the murmers and whispers around him, questions on what demigods were and why they were even coming at all and exactly where they were coming from. But nobody sounded too upset by it, and so far no violence had occured.

But that didn't mean anything.

At six they all gathered outside the castle to greet their guests. Nico stood beside Ron, Harry, and Hermione in the chilly air, his robes wrapped tightly around him as he took in the darkening sky. Was Will coming with the other demigods? And who else could possibly be coming? Percy and Annabeth had their kid to attend to, and so did Hazel and Frank. And Jason...well, he couldn't do anything, anymore.

Beauxbatons was the first to arrive, in a large horse-drawn carriage that could also somehow fly. The headmaster was a woman taller than any Nico had seen before, and he was ninety percent sure she had giant blood in her. It sent his blood running cold, but nothing about her seemed very dangerous. She led her students into the castle to warm up, leaving the Hogwarts students alone again.

"How are the demigods arriving?" Harry whispered.

Nico shrugged. "Dunno."

Was Dominic coming? Would he realize that Nico had that mark? Would the others see him as a traitor once again?

His mind started racing to a proper way to hide the mark from Dominic's sixth sense but time wasn't on his side. The old sight of the Argo II shown in the distance, and even the old smell came back to him. All those years ago...the horrible times he had had on that ship...

"That's them."

Wizards around him had also seemed to realize that this wasn't the other wizarding school. They moved forward, whispers and yells breaking out. These were the mysterious demigods. These were the ones they had never heard of before.

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea," Hermione thought aloud.

"I'm thinking the same," Nico agreed.

The ship landed beside the lake. Nico could see Leo's beaming face at the front, his hair a mess like usual and his overalls dirty. What he didn't expect was Chiron to be pushed from the ship in his wheelchair, Dominic behind him in a bright orange shirt and jean capris.

"This isn't fucking good," Nico groaned. "This isn't fucking good at all."

Hermione put a hand on his arm. "Relax. We don't know that yet."

"People know who Dominic is," Nico said. "They know him. What the fuck is he going to tell them?"

"The truth?" Ron asked.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Like that boy ever tells the truth."

"Chiron!" Dumbledore met Chiron in front of all the onlookers and greeted his old friend. "Thank you for coming."

Nico watched the demigods that got off the ship, felt his mark burning at each one. Annabeth...Will...what were they_ doing_ here?

Nico escaped from his friends and pushed his way through the other wizards as the demigods were welcomed into the building. Most wizards stayed behind to wait for the next school, leaving Nico enough room to make it by Will's side. "What are you doing here? What about school?"

Will looked down at Nico with a grin. "What? You aren't happy to see me?"

Nico rolled his eyes. "Of course I am. But if you tell me that you dropped out, I swear to the gods-"

"I didn't drop out, I promise." Will grabbed his hand and intertwined their fingers. "This place is as amazing as I remember... I took a year off of school, that's it. I helped come up with this plan. It was me and Annabeth and Chiron. It's only fitting that we're here to help it through."

"Annabeth has a baby. She shouldn't be-"

Annabeth turned around to slap the back of his head lightly. "I have a baby, you're right. That means I deserve a vacation."

Nico sighed. "Please tell me Percy's not watching her alone."

"You think I'm an idiot?" Annabeth instinctively went to sit at the Ravenclaw table before making her way to the Gryffindor table. "Come on, we're going to sit with your friends. Sally's watching her."

Nico grumbled but sat next to her and Will. The students were still outside, waiting for the other school to arrive. The only other ones in the Great Hall were the Beauxbatons students, leaving the demigods mostly alone as they talked amongst themselves. Nico didn't notice Dominic was around again until the son of Apollo plopped down in the seat across from him. He was just as Nico remembered in his demigod phase, but...that 'fucking psychic' sense...

Dominic's face was serious for once in his life. His eyes were cold and calculating. "What did you do?"


	8. Chapter 8

Nico blinked back at him, trying to look as innocent as possible but knowing that it was failing. "What do you mean?"

"Don't fuck with me." Dominic leaned in. "What the fuck did you do?"

"Language." Annabeth glanced over in concern. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Nico sent a glare at Dominic. "How about you be quiet while in public?"

"How about you tell me the fucking truth."

"Language," Nico and Annabeth repeated.

Dominic rolled his eyes. "When have you ever cared about fucking language, you asshat-"

He was cut short by the remaining school arriving, their entrance into the hall followed by the Hogwarts students. Dominic gave Nico one last look before gesturing to the Hufflepuff table. "Shouldn't you be sitting with your house?"

"I'll sit here until they say something." Nico pulled Will closer to him. "I miss my boyfriend."

Will wrapped an arm around Nico's shoulders. "I can sit with you at the Hufflepuff table if you want, you know."

Nico shook his head. "Don't feel like moving."

Before long, the Golden Trio sat next to them. Hermione smiled at Dominic immediately, while Ron was staring at one of the Durmstrang students who seemed to be getting a lot of attention from everybody.

"Dominic, how's life in America?" Hermione asked.

"A lot better than here." Dominic's eyes followed Ron's. "Who's that?"

"Victor Krum." Ron breathed out. "I didn't know he was still a student-"

"Ron's obsessed," Nico cut in, glancing momentarily at Krum before looking back to the others. "It's like his man-crush or something."

"I do not have a-"

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and — most particularly — guests," Dumbledore started, his voice booming over the students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable. The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast. I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"

The food appeared before them. Nico kept his eyes on Dominic, who kept his eyes on him, but other than that the meal was uneventful. Dominic knew, Nico could tell. He knew what mark was on his arm.

Eventually, the plates were clean again and Dumbledore was speaking.

"The moment has come," he started. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket —"

"The what?" Harry muttered.

Ron shrugged.

"— just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."

Nico finally took his eyes off Dominic to look up at Dumbledore. Voldemort wanted him to place Harry's name in that tournament...why?

"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," Dumbledore said as Filtch put a chest on the table in front of him, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways . . . their magical prowess — their daring — their powers of deduction — and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."

Nico glanced at Harry. That face was so innocent still...

"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament, one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

Dumbledore reached into the box and pulled out the wooden cup, which was full of blue flames.

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet. Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete."

To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation, I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line."

Well, that wouldn't be a problem for Nico, and Voldemort knew that.

"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

Nico zoned out the anger around him, his eyes on his lap. Voldemort...he was planning on getting Harry killed one way or another, and if Nico entered him into this tournament, it would be on him as well.

"We're sleeping on the Argo," Annabeth broke into his thoughts. "We're going to get going if that's alright."

Nico blinked again to see that everyone had started to file out. "Yeah...yeah, that's fine."

"We're talking," Dominic demanded. "Sneak onto the Argo if you need to. We're talking."

Nico breathed out heavily. "Fine. I'll shadow travel out there. Just give me some time to make people think I'm in bed."

Dominic nodded once before following the other demigods out, leaving Nico to run to catch up with the other Hufflepuffs. Some nodded in greeting at him, but most were concerned with other things going on. So many people were talking, and whispers kept getting louder, and he felt like he couldn't even think through the buzz the tournament had on people.

Well, maybe he didn't want to think anyway. Not when everything was filled with anxiety.

Dominic knew. Who was he going to tell? Would he hate him now?

He had been hated before, he had gotten through it. Because he was the traitor, after all, double-faced, spy. He had that reputation.


	9. Chapter 9

Nico shadow traveled to the deck of the Argo II later that night. Dominic was waiting for him, seated against the rails with a cup of hot chocolate in hand. His hair had been recently cut, hacked away like Nico had used to do it, so he must not have been able to find anyone skilled to do it. But Dominic always needed his hair cut, Nico remembered just as much. That's what happened when you used to have a mother who forced you to keep it as long as possible.

"Anyone around or are we alone?" Nico asked, sitting beside him. Once he was seated, the wind hit him less than when he was up, but it was still pretty chilly as they were near the lake.

"No one's within hearing range," Dominic promised. "I made them all swear on the Styx."

"Good." Nico took a deep breath before wrapping his cloak tighter around himself. "So, have any hot chocolate for me?"

"Not until you tell me the truth."

Nico sighed. "Dom..."

"What? I'm serious, Nico," Dominic said. "You know I can tell things. You know this. And spending time at camp has made it stronger, and I've seen that no other children of Apollo have it to this extent. Maybe I am a fucking psychic along with being his son, who knows. But we both know what it means, and we both know what I'm talking about. Spill. The. Story."

Nico bit his lip. "It's a long story."

"We have all night."

Nico rolled his eyes before leaning his head back. He told the story, almost all of it, all the parts he hated and all the parts that felt like bruises on his memory.

Voldemort being with his mom, how dark her family was, the tortures and persuasions Voldemort tried at him every night, why he finally agreed, the Death Mark on his arm. He even went as far back as to explain the empousa that once attacked him, their comment on a new master, how Voldemort knew that the demigods knew about him.

The one thing he didn't share was the fact that Voldemort wanted him to put Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire. He was going to keep that a secret for as long as possible, even if that meant until death. Because he had finally decided.

He was going to do it.

Dominic listened to the whole story in silence, his eyes wide and his mouth unmoving. When Nico was finally done talking he let out a low sigh before speaking.

"Fucking hell."

"I know."

"_Fucking hell_."

"I _know_," Nico repeated.

"And you've been keeping all of this a secret?" Dominic asked. "Why? Are you insane? You're going to get yourself killed, or you're going to end up killing somebody."

Nico tried not to show his emotions but couldn't help but gulp. If he was responsible for Harry Potter's death... He'd lose whatever friends he had managed to get. He'd lose his brother. His little niece Nicole Hope and his boyfriend and everything.

"I can't back out, now," Nico mumbled. "I can't. And this is the only way. It might win us the war."

"And if it doesn't?"

Nico shrugged. "I can't think of that right now. I can beat him. And if I can't, I still have to. This is my family here, not just innocent kids. This is my _family_. And I'll be the two-timing traitor if it means protecting them. But you need to keep this a secret, Dom. Please. For me. If Voldemort finds out that you know, he'll get suspicious. He's not stupid."

"I promise not to tell. But keep me informed," Dominic wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "We're in this together, okay? Two demigod Hufflepuffs against Voldemort."

Nico snorted. "It's not that easy, you know."

"I know." Dominic took a breath before letting the conversation fall into silence. The stars were out above them, and Nico could easily point out the constellation Zoe had become. It reminded him of where he had come from, his first year in the demigod world, the horrors back then that were so livable now.

Nico took his wand out and lit the tip as the darkness settled in. It had been getting harder to see Dominic's face, but now their vision of each other was back. They sat there in the silence, peaceful for some time before Dominic finally spoke again.

"Nico...I don't have a good feeling about the whole death eater thing," he stressed. "I don't have a good feeling and I don't want you to die. I know you can't go back on it...so just be careful, okay?"

"I will." Nico looked up at the stars again. "But...Dom...Just so you know... I _will_ lay my life down if it means saving them. You know that, right?"

Dominic nodded. "And I know there's no way to talk you out of it."

Nico huffed in acceptance before finally rising to his feet. "I should get back and get some sleep."

"Stay safe," Dominic stood as well. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Nico nodded at him before stepping back into the shadows, reappearing in the Great Hall. It was empty, quiet, nobody in sight. Nico took a few minutes to make sure there were no souls nearby, then drenched himself in shadows before stepping towards the cup.

Tense. Too tense. It felt like the Fates were watching his every move. He knew he would probably one day regret it, but he dropped that previously prepared paper into the cup. His hand got too close, the fire singed his fingers slightly. The age line didn't do a thing.

"There it is," Nico whispered to himself. "I'm a death eater."

* * *

The next day, Nico found himself, along with many of the other wizards, watching Fred and George get ready to pass the same line he had passed without trouble the night previously. They had drunk an age potion, something Dumbledore would have course thought of, but the twins seemed pretty certain that the trick would work.

It hadn't, however, and the next thing they knew, shrieks of laughter burst through the hall as Fred and George got thrown away from the cup, new white beards on their faces.

"Mom's going to love to hear about this," Nico whispered.

Ron snorted beside him. "That will be a conversation."

"I did warn you."

Everyone turned to see that Dumbledore had walked up, but he himself seemed to be just as amused at the situation. "I suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours."

Nico went on his way to the Hufflepuff table as the crowd dispersed. Will was waiting there, his blue eyes sparkling and his golden hair just so fucking perfect-

"Will," Nico grinned. "I'm not used to seeing you in the mornings."

"You either, sleeping beauty." Will pulled him into the seat beside him. "Come on, eat your breakfast before I make you."

Nico rolled his eyes but did as he was told. "I haven't really heard many wizards talking about demigods. It's strange, the way they're writing you guys off like you're just another school."

"We were talking about that last night," Will admitted. "I have a theory."

"What is it?"

Will gestured around them. "I'm thinking it's a form of the Mist, but not something we've really seen before. Their eyes aren't being tricked into seeing baseball bats instead of swords, or birds instead of monsters. Because they believe in that stuff. _They're_ the magic of their world. But since we're not a threat, I think they're just...ignoring us, but not purposely. Like we're part of the background. Other schools are here, so they're used to seeing strangers with no classes. There were a flying carriage and a boat that rose out of the lake. The Argo II wasn't much of a shock. They aren't thinking about our heritage because they don't have to, and the Mist stops them from really thinking about it unless they actively want to. And with everything going on, why would they want to focus on demigods?"

Nico blinked a few times. "Will, that's genius."

"I didn't come up with most of it," he insisted. "It was mostly Annabeth."

Nico just whistled. "It's one hell of a theory. But it makes sense."

Will grinned. "I know, right? It's definitely not what we expected, but if they ever do really actively think about us, they can see that we all lived in peace without any fighting. It's awesome."

Nico leaned his head on Will's shoulder before stuffing another bite of food in his mouth. It was Saturday, no classes to go to. He had the whole day to Will, and Will had the whole day to him.


	10. Chapter 10

Nico spent the day with Will, knowing that as soon as Harry's name was called from that Goblet of Fire, everything would go to Hell. So he stuck close to Will's side, knowing the peace wouldn't last but soaking in it. But the anxiety ruined his peaceful day.

The Death Mark on his arm was almost too itchy for him to deal with. Whenever he was near Anubis, the half hellhound wouldn't leave it alone. Something about it wasn't mixing well with his father's heritage, or maybe it was just his imagination. But he never went an hour without thinking about it.

Once it was time for the feast, Nico sat at the Hufflepuff table basically glued to Will's side. If Will noticed, he didn't say anything. Throughout the day, he had heard whispers here and there about demigods, but none worried him in the least. It was like Will's theory was actually working.

But judging by his life, it wouldn't last for long.

"Are you going to eat?" Will asked.

Nico glanced over at his boyfriend before shrugging, lowering his voice so that no other Hufflepuffs could hear. "Why are all the other demigods with the Gryffindors?"

Will shrugged. "Annabeth is friends with Hermione, but I don't know. I guess they want to stick together since most of them have never been here before."

Nico smiled, thinking back to the first time Will, Annabeth, Percy, and Piper had visited him at Hogwarts. "Yeah, I guess."

"No more changing the subject," Will said. "You have to eat."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Not hungry."

"Too bad."

"Will..."

"No, Nico. You're eating," Will demanded. "At least ten bites. I'm not having you almost fade out of existence ever again."

"Like skipping dinner one night would do that," Nico mumbled, but he brought the fork to his mouth. There was no arguing with Will when it came to his health.

Eventually, the food disappeared, and Dumbledore rose to speak.

"When the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber, where they will be receiving their first instructions," Dumbledore instructed.

The Goblet of Fire was in front of him, sparking and ready to go. Nico felt like throwing up whenever his eyes caught sight of it.

The flames turned red, and a piece of paper came fluttering out. Dumbledore grabbed the paper and squinted at it before his voice boomed out again.

"The champion for Durmstrang will be Viktor Krum!" he called.

Nico joined in on the applause, and even though his heart had sunk into his stomach, he couldn't help but watch his boyfriend and brother, both seeming too into the drawing.

If only the high they felt then could last.

When the clapping and noise died down, another paper flew out and landed in Dumbledore's hand.

"The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!"

More cheering. Nico watched the girl walk up and started to tap his fingers anxiously.

Then there was the next paper, and when Dumbledore called the name, he felt like his entire table was lit by some unseen fire.

Cedric Diggory. One of their own. Nico clapped along with the others, felt a little pride, but something about the boy's aura was too short for his liking.

The Hufflepuffs were the last to finally end their applause and cheering. When the last of it died down, Dumbeldore spoke again.

"Excellent! Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real-"

Nico covered his face when he saw the goblet's fire had turned red again. Half of him had hoped it wouldn't work, but he had done everything right.

And another paper came from that cup, one with Nico's handwriting, landed in Dumbledore's hand, changed the whole course of the year.

"Harry Potter..."

Silence. Nico glanced over at the Gryffindor table, tried to hide his guilt. Annabeth was looking over at him in shock, Ron's face was red, even Hermione had been shocked to her core.

"Holy shit..." Will whispered. "What does that mean?"

Nico glanced at Dominic, who's gaze was piercing into him. Shit.

"I've got to go to the bathroom." Nico didn't wait for Will to respond, his heart pounding in his chest and his limbs shaking as he made his escape from the hall. Everyone was focused on Harry as he made his way to Dumbledore, but Nico could feel Dominic's eyes on him as he tried to escape to Mrytle's bathroom as quickly as possible.

He had put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire. He had done Voldemort's bidding.

He could have just signed Harry Potter's death sentence.

Anxiety and guilt mixed in his stomach and ribs, and before he knew it, he was throwing up into one of the toilets. He could feel Mrytle hovering about, watching, not crying for the first time in forever.

He was a death eater.

More vomit.

He betrayed his friend.

He may have killed Harry Potter.

"Nico?!"

Dominic. Nico slammed the stall door shut, but he could feel the son of Apollo right outside it.

"Don't hide from me," Dominic ordered. "I want to know what you did."

"Go away," Nico groaned. His legs were shaking so bad he thought they might give out.

"No, I'm not leaving." Dominic opened the stall door and frowned when he saw Nico. "Are you...puking?"

"Fuck off." Nico flipped him off but didn't have the strength or will to do much more.

"You said you wouldn't lie to me, and I saw your reaction to what happened with Harry," Dominic said. "You may think you're good at hiding your emotions, but I know you. Maybe even better than your brother does. You were my only friend here for so long. We clicked. And if you hadn't been in love with Will, we may have even gotten together. We clicked, Nico, and I know you. And I know you were guilty as hell."

Nico sunk to his knees and wiped at his mouth, trying to keep the rest of the bile and guilt down. He was evil.

He was the villain.

"Dom..." Nico leaned his head back against the stall wall and closed his eyes.

Dominic crossed his arms. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

Nico shook his head. "Every time I even think about it, I want to off myself. You think I can handle admitting it out loud?" He punched himself in the stomach when it felt like a new wave of nausea was going to hit. "Just leave me the fuck alone...please. I'm exhausted. I've lived so many fucking lives and I'm still the evil bastard and I can't turn back, I have to finish it all. But I'm exhausted, and I can't admit what happened to you. Not yet."

Dominic audibly swallowed before he sat beside the son of Hades. It was silent for a few minutes before he reached out and wrapped an arm around Nico's shoulders, pulling him into a hug.

"You're not a villain," Dominic whispered. "You're just doing what you think you need to do."

"And that's what villains do, too," Nico growled.

Dominic shrugged. "Well, maybe so. But villains don't sit in guilt and worry about if they're evil."

"I think you're wrong," Nico whispered. "I...I think you're wrong. Someone said it once, I think, in a quote or something. I heard it from a ghost. 'Villains are victims whose stories haven't been told'. Villains fight for love and family just like heroes do. They just get dealt the short stick, have to do what heroes refuse to do, have to get their hands dirty for what they believe to be the greater good."

Nico got up and glared down at him. "It's not my fault I couldn't be the hero. It's not my fault I was made into the villain. But the guilt is still fucking eating me alive, and I can't admit it out loud. I can't. All I can do is keep going with my plan and hope it works, hope I can save everyone. Because if not, then all of this was for nothing. The blood on my hands is just for decoration."


	11. Chapter 11

Sunday morning was tense for everyone. Nico and Dominic, known friends being cold to each other. _Harry Potter_ and _Ron Weasley_ fighting as well. And a new rivalry between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.

Nico never went to bed, and he found Ron early that morning and took the chance to talk to his brother privately for the first time in a while. They sat at breakfast together at the Gyrffindor table, it early enough that barely anyone else was there. Ron told him how he and Harry had started fighting and why, which basically came down to Nico. Nico put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire. He made his brother lose his best friend.

And that hurt worse than fighting with Dominic.

But as he listened to Ron rant and rant, he saw what the problem really was. Ron was jealous, it seemed. Jealous of Harry Potter. And Nico could think of how he also used to be that way, jealous of Percy Jackson. He just hoped Ron would never turn into what Nico had.

Nico couldn't help but feel proud of Cedric despite the hate against Harry, just as the other Hufflepuffs did. Loyalty was their house trait, after all. But he refused to wear those badges the others were.

The only good thing about the constant arguing and ridicule was that demigods really were in the back of people's heads. But even that couldn't cheer Nico up, not when one of his favorite homes was being torn apart.

The Saturday before the first task, nothing had changed but it was time for the trip to Hogsmeade. Nico found himself sitting with Ron, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan at the Three Broomsticks. The butterbeer warmed his stomach but his heart was still cold. Hermione and Harry should have been sitting there with them.

He noticed Hermione come in and sit by herself, but he was almost certain Harry was next to her, under his Invisibility Cloak. He could sense his soul. Hagrid and Moody came in, obviously talked to Harry, and left. But Nico seemed to be the only one to notice. Blame two wars for making you so attentive.

But that was the only interesting part of the trip, and later that night, Nico snuck around to visit Charlie, who had come to help with the dragons. When he first heard about those dragons, he had been shocked to the core. When he first saw them, he almost attacked. But Charlie stopped him, calmed him about the situation. He was Nico's big brother, after all.

He could have slipped the news to Harry, and was contemplating it until he felt Harry's soul approaching, under an Invisibility Cloak, wedged between Hagrid and Madame Maxime.

Nico followed Charlie over to them, knowing they didn't belong there also, so they probably wouldn't get him in trouble. He could basically hear Harry's intake of breath at seeing him, however.

"All right, Hagrid?" Charlie asked. "They should be okay now — we put them out with a Sleeping Draft on the way here, thought it might be better for them to wake up in the dark and the quiet — but, like you saw, they weren't happy, not happy at all —"

"What breeds you got here, Charlie?" Hagrid asked.

"This is a Hungarian Horntail," Charlie said. "There's a Common Welsh Green over there, the smaller one — a Swedish ShortSnout, that blue-gray — and a Chinese Fireball, that's the red."

Charlie looked at Madame Maxime. "I didn't know you were bringing her, Hagrid. The champions aren't supposed to know what's coming — she's bound to tell her student, isn't she?"

Nico almost snorted. Harry was right there, after all. A champion seeing the task beforehand.

"Really romantic date, Hagrid," Nico said, crossing his arms. His cloak was singed from the dragons' breakdown but the air was still cold.

Hagrid ignored him. "Four . . .so it's one fer each o' the champions, is it? What've they gotta do — fight 'em?"

"Just get past them, I think," Charlie said. "We'll be on hand if it gets nasty, Extinguishing Spells at the ready. They wanted nesting mothers, I don't know why . . . but I tell you this, I don't envy the one who gets the Horntail. Vicious thing. Its back end's as dangerous as its front."

Nico glanced over at the dragons. Luck would have it that Harry would probably get that one.

"How's Harry?" Charlie asked. "Nico here told me about how he's a champion, and mum read the papers."

"Fine," Hagrid said.

"Just hope he's still fine after he's faced this lot," Charlie said. "I didn't dare tell Mum what he's got to do for the first task; she's already having kittens about him. . . ." Charlie imitated his mother's anxious voice. " '_How could they let him enter that tournament, he's much too young! I thought they were all safe, I thought there was going to be an age limit_!' She was in floods after that Daily Prophet article about him. '_He still cries about his parents! Oh bless him, I never knew!_' "

Nico snorted but looked up when he noticed Harry's soul walking away. Oh well, he found out what he needed to.

And without thinking, Nico made sure Cedric knew, as well. He told him all he needed to know, because that Hufflepuff pride wasn't disappearing any time soon.


	12. Chapter 12

Nico sat in the stands next to his brother, chewing at his nails and his foot tapping away. He noticed Dominic staring at him, he heard Annabeth and Hermione talking away, he could feel Ron's anxiety. None of them were prepared for this, but here it was.

Cedric was up first. Nico may have cheated a few times, helping him with the shadows whenever he seemed to need it, keeping the whole thing discrete. Even Cedric didn't notice it.

But leave it to Annabeth and Hermione to.

"Nico, stop cheating!" Annabeth hissed.

Hermione was glaring at him. "Do you know what would happen if they found out? You could get arrested-"

Nico rolled his eyes but dropped the shadow act. "There. Happy?"

Annabeth leaned back but Hermione kept her eye on him throughout Fleur's task as well, but he never went to help her. Neither did he go to help Krum when it was his turn. Who would in his position?

"What are you watching me for?" Nico asked. "Thought I'd help the enemy?"

Hermione sighed. "Just watching out. If they see you, a demigod and Hogwarts student, messing with the competition..."

"I know," he sighed. "I know."

Finally, after what seemed like forever, it was Harry's turn to come out. Nico went back to biting his nails while Hermione muttered to herself under her breath. This was it. He may be the one to kill Harry Potter.

He used the shadows to help, and Hermione didn't say anything against it. It was too much to just sit there and watch, not helping, seeing him fight something he never should have. So Nico helped whenever he could, and though the fight was as nerve-wracking as it could get, Harry Potter survived.

Nico followed Hermione and Ron into the infirmary-made tent as soon as they were able to make it through the crowd. Madam Pomfrey was tending to Harry, who looked scraped up but fine enough.

"Harry, you were brilliant!" Hermione exclaimed. "You were amazing! You really were!"

Nico looked to Ron as Harry did, his eyes on his brother's pale face. It seemed that he finally realized Harry wasn't lying.

"Harry," he said, "whoever put your name in that goblet — I — I reckon they're trying to do you in!"

Nico tried not to look sick. His arm felt on fire.

"Caught on, have you?" Harry asked. "Took you long enough."

Nico turned to glare at him. _Play nice._

"It's okay," Harry said. "Forget it."

"No," Ron said. "I shouldn't've —"

"Forget it," Harry repeated. They stared at each other before grinning, and the tension in the room disappeared.

Hermione started crying. Nico looked over at her like she was insane, not sure what the fuck she was crying over, but then he realized that he himself was the only one among them that couldn't cry easily.

"There's nothing to cry about," Harry said.

"You two are so stupid!" Hermione grabbed them each and pulled them into a hug, and then grabbed Nico's hair to pull him into it also. Then she let them all go and ran out of the room, wiping her eyes before anyone else could see her tears.

Nico rubbed at his raw scalp. "Let's go see your scores, Harry."

Harry nodded and grabbed his things before walking with them out of the tent. Ron was on one side of Harry while Nico was on the other, and with the two of them made up, Nico felt even worse about his actions.

He would be the one that would end his brother's best friend. He was almost sure of it.

"You were the best, you know, no competition," Ron rambled. "Cedric did this weird thing where he Transfigured a rock on the ground . . . turned it into a dog . . . he was trying to make the dragon go for the dog instead of him. Well, it was a pretty cool bit of Transfiguration, and it sort of worked, because he did get the egg, but he got burned as well — the dragon changed its mind halfway through and decided it would rather have him than the Labrador; he only just got away. And that Fleur girl tried this sort of charm, I think she was trying to put it into a trance — well, that kind of worked too, it went all sleepy, but then it snored, and this great jet of flame shot out, and her skirt caught fire — she put it out with a bit of water out of her wand. And Krum — you won't believe this, but he didn't even think of flying! He was probably the best after you, though. Hit it with some sort of spell right in the eye. Only thing is, it went trampling around in agony and squashed half the real eggs — they took marks off for that, he wasn't supposed to do any damage to them."

They got to where the judges were. An eight, two nines, a ten, a four. Nico scowled at the last number, and Ron decided to voice his disapproval. But there was nothing to be done about the score, and Harry seemed happy enough.

Nico soon followed them on the way back to Hogwarts, smiling when Charlie decided to run up and meet them.

"You're tied in first place, Harry! You and Krum!" he said. "Listen, I've got to run, I've got to go and send Mum an owl, I swore I'd tell her what happened — but that was unbelievable! Oh yeah — and they told me to tell you you've got to hang around for a few more minutes. . . . Bagman wants a word, back in the champions' tent."

Nico looked to Harry. "We'll wait."

Ron nodded. "You bet."

As Harry and Charlie left their separate ways, Nico turned to Ron. "I'm glad you two made up."

"Yeah, well, what else was I going to do?" Ron asked. "He didn't put his name in... Who do you think did?"

Nico shrugged and rubbed at his covered forearm. "Someone that wants him dead."

"Damn right about that."

Nico looked at him again before looking around them. Without knowing, his brother hated him. Without knowing, his brother thought he was a murderer.

Would he someday live up to those thoughts? How far was he willing to go to carry out his plan?

Whatever the case, he needed to start the 'taking down from the inside' part. Because at the moment, all he was doing was being Voldemort's pawn.


	13. Chapter 13

That night, Nico let himself dream walk to Voldemort's presence. He couldn't see him but knew the other was there in the darkness.

"My first task is complete," Nico reported. "He's a participating champion in the tournament."

"And the government? Do they suspect us?" Voldemort asked.

Nico shook his head. "No one does, not even Harry himself."

"Good, good..." Voldemort's voice shifted around him. "You will help him through these tasks, get him to the last one. That is your new order."

"Why?" Nico asked. "What's the last task?"

"I'll explain as the time nears," Voldemort answered. "You have proven your loyalty, but I need more than you have given me."

Nico sighed. "What can I-"

"Why did you join in my forces?" Voldemort asked. "You have strong will, you wouldn't have given up through torture that quickly."

Nico made a face at the painful memories. "I wanted to know about my mother. And when I found out..." He paused, chose his words carefully. "I've grown up without a father, and when I learned that you and her... I have no family, no one even knows she existed. But you knew her, were close to her."

He could feel Voldemort's pride. It disgusted him.

"You'll have a family with me," Voldemort said. "With my followers. We will win this war together."

"It will be a war?" Nico asked.

"Of course. You think they'll let go of their precious world so easily?" Voldemort asked. "No, they'll try to hold out, try to be heroes. We'll need to break them down, together. Then we'll be able to get revenge against anyone that ever hurt your mother."

Nico gulped. "Those who hurt her..." Zeus. Was Voldemort planning to go to war with the gods after the wizards?

"Don't worry, son, we'll get them."

Nico jumped awake and puked.

* * *

December came and the temperatures dropped. Nico avoided Dominic and Dominic avoided him, and all the wizards and demigods noticed.

"What are you two fighting about, anyway?" Will asked. They were walking together near the lake, wrapped and bundled, hand in hand. "He used to be your best friend."

"I hate his abilities," Nico admitted. "He finds things out about me that I'm not ready to share. Then he assumes shit about those things. I'm sick of it."

Will kissed the top of his head. "Still, it isn't his fault he has those abilities. He didn't choose them, just like you didn't choose yours. Remember when other campers were scared of you because you could raise the dead? This is the same thing."

Nico pursed his lips. "Still. I'm not ready to share this one thing and he won't stop asking me about it. I...I just can't tell him, not yet."

"Is it something I know?" Will asked.

Nico shook his head. "It's just...really really personal. About my mother."

"Oh..." Will knew how she died, Nico had told him. But he wasn't going to dare mention everything Voldemort had to win him over. "If you do want to talk about it, I'll listen. I'm here, Nico."

Nico leaned his head on Will's shoulder. "I know. Thank you."

"Anytime."

* * *

Later that day, Hermione came to him with the same question. She caught him in the library doing his homework, plopping beside him without an invite.

"Why are you and Dominic fighting?" she asked. "You can tell it's taking a toll on both of you. And he doesn't have a brother and boyfriend to help him like you do."

Nico scowled. "What? Did he say something to you?"

"No, no, and that's the point," Hermione persisted. "He hasn't spoken to anyone. He's just not himself. I'm worried about him."

"I can't be all chummy with him just because he got upset," Nico sighed. "We're fighting, and it's important shit we're fighting about, and I can't just make amends like you think."

"Well...what are you fighting about?" she asked.

"His abilities, seeing into my fucking mind, me having no privacy," Nico explained. "Not to mention he's being an ass about it. Thinks he understands when he doesn't."

Hermione opened one of her books and began her homework. "I'm sure he was just trying to help."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't helping," Nico said. "And I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Hermione shook her head. "You're stubborn, you know. If you just tried talking to him, you could make it work. I know you could. Ron and Harry made up and so can you two."

"They had a completely different situation," Nico argued. "Ron was being jealous. Neither of us is jealous of the other."

"You sure about that?" she asked.

He frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You and Ron are a lot alike, that's all," Hermione said. "Maybe you should just rethink everything you've done, look from an outside point of view."

"You think I'm jealous of Dominic?" Nico asked. "For what?"

"I don't know, I'm not you," she stressed. "But you and Ron are so similar when it comes to your emotions. You're protective of your family, you get jealous of others."

"I'm not jealous," Nico denied. But his heart wasn't in it anymore. That night in bed, he thought about it some more.

Jealous...of what? Well, he could actually name a lot of things Dominic had that he didn't. He was a demigod-wizard, just as he was, but his life was so much simpler. He actually felt like he belonged at camp. Nobody was scared of him. He didn't have a war hanging over his head, he didn't sign his friend's death warrant, he didn't have a dark mark on his arm or Voldemort calling him 'son'.

He was everything Nico wanted to be. Open about his sexuality, a sense of belonging, no hate from others, no wars or quests, or other world-ending events. No Tartarus flashbacks. No torture.

He could be the hero, just like Percy, like Annabeth, like Will and the others, and Nico was stuck being the villain.

Maybe Nico _was_ jealous. But that didn't mean he wanted Dominic looking in his mind and seeing all the horrible things he had ever done.

Because Voldemort was now his master, his mark was on his arm, he set Harry up for death, and he didn't have the balls to start taking Voldemort down like he had planned to do.

But when had he _ever_ loved himself? When had he ever not been jealous of someone else? Just because it was Dominic...it should have been no different. So why was it?

Dominic was the first true friend he made himself. It wasn't through Ron like Harry and Hermione were, it wasn't through his Bianca like Percy was, it wasn't through Percy like every other demigod was. It wasn't because they were siblings, like his friendship with Hazel was. He made a friend in Dominic by himself. He chose him.

And the one he chose had made a better life for himself than Nico ever could. He left him alone at Hogwarts. He chose the world Nico hadn't.

Nico made sure his curtains were drawn before pulling his sleeve up, staring at that mark. Anubis's nose twitched, the half hell hound laying beside him, and Nico also smell the death coming off it. But what else was new with him?

He'd talk to Dominic, he decided. Tomorrow. Maybe the friend he chose could be the one to help him through this all.


	14. Chapter 14

Nico woke up the next morning with painful eyes and an ache in his bones. This was it. He'd finally trust in someone other than himself. If it all went wrong...well, he wouldn't be who he was anymore. But sometimes you had to risk that.

Nico found Dominic on the Argo II, tension filling the air as the two locked eyes. But before anything could happen or any words could be spoken, Nico grabbed Dominic's arm and shadow traveled to the forest.

They emerged in a clearing Nico had visited many times before over his years at Hogwarts. It was peaceful, was too far in for anyone to bother them. They were alone, he made sure of it. Not even Harry with his Invisibility Cloak was anywhere in range.

"What was that for?" Dominic asked, steadying himself against a tree. "You can't just kidnap me-"

Nico rolled his sleeve up and exposed his Dark Mark. The air around it dropped in temperature.

Dominic stared at it before shaking his head. "Fuck. Fuck!"

"Dom..."

"You better have a damn good explanation for all of this," Dominic swore. "You're going to give me a fucking heart attack one of these days. Next thing I know you're going to be telling me that you put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire."

"Well..."

"Nico, tell me you're joking," Dominic pleaded. "Tell me this is all a joke."

Nico shook his head. "Not a joke."

"Damn it..." Dominic sat down and leaned back against a tree. "Fuck..."

Nico sat next to him. "Can I explain?"

"Yeah, you better."

Nico retold his story, this time explaining everything, especially the little things he had left out before. He told him his plan, or lack thereof, told him his thought process on everything he had done. He even told him how Voldemort had called him "son" and almost threw up in his mouth doing so.

"I'm sorry I was an ass," Nico finished. "I just...I didn't want anyone to know. I wasn't ready for anyone to know. And with you...well, I can't keep anything from you."

"You're Voldemort's bitch."

Nico's cheeks turned red. "Dominic! This isn't funny!"

"Right, right, sorry," Dominic looked at the mark again. "Can he hear us through that?"

Nico shrugged. "Fuck if I know. I don't think so..."

"It radiates bad energy, Nico," Dominic warned. "I'm surprised no one else has picked up on it. I mean, it's probably what's got everyone fighting and arguing. It's bad energy."

Nico pulled his sleeve down to cover it. "Are you going to accept my apology or not?"

Dominic threw an arm around his shoulders. "I can't stay mad at you."

"I probably killed Harry Potter."

Dominic rolled his eyes. "He'll be fine. We'll keep him safe. That was you, wasn't it? Protecting him against that dragon?"

"You noticed?" Nico asked.

Dominic nodded. "I've been friends with you for long enough. I notice the movement of shadows."

"Not every task is going to be against dragons, though," Nico thought aloud. "What if there's something me and my shadows can't protect him against? At least not secretly."

"His life is more important that if anyone finds out. It doesn't have to be secret."

Nico nodded in acceptance. "Fine, but what if it's something I can't protect him against? I'm not a god, Dominic. I can't stop everything. And who knows what Voldemort's planning."

"You dear old dad-"

"Dominic," Nico warned. "I'm Hades's son. He's delusional for thinking otherwise."

"I mean-"

"What?" Nico asked. "What conspiracy theory could you possibly come up with that would prove him right? I have demigod powers, fuckwad."

"I mean, have you ever studied Greek myths?"

"Dominic, I'm going to fucking boil you-"

"No, no, I'm serious. The god Hephaestus, you know him. Leo's dad. One of the myths about him is the conception of his son, Erichthonios. It's said that he had two mothers and one father. Hephaestus tried to rape Athena but she basically got away in time, but his...you know, she got rid of it, but it fell into the soil and also...went into...Gaea. Boom, three-person conception."

"Dominic!"

"What? It's the myth!"

"I'm not a myth or a god!" Nico argued. "Voldemort was nowhere near them at the time of my conception!"

"And you know that...how?" Dominic asked.

Nico growled. "I'm going to fucking boil your teeth, man."

"Get a new threat, you've promised me that five times," Dominic dismissed.

"I'm not Voldemort's son!" Nico argued. "I'm not, I can't be. My mother...she didn't perform some fucking Greek shit with Hades's...contribution. And Hades didn't perform any Greek shit with Voldemort."

"Fine, fine, you made your point." Dominic held his hands up in surrender. "I was just giving you something to think about, maybe ask your dad about."

Nico put his head in his hands. "I am not asking my father if he got down and freaky with fucking Voldemort."

"Literally."

"I fucking hate you."

* * *

The first time Nico heard of the ball, every cell in him started panicking. Then he realized he didn't need to go. He wasn't a champion.

And only then did he realize that he actually had someone to go with, however. He had a boyfriend that was actually there. But if people saw them that public...that much of an age difference...

He decided he wouldn't ask Will and could only hope Will didn't ask him. But everyone around him seemed to be freaking out about who to ask, including Dominic.

Now that they were hanging out together again...it was strange but good. Nico had someone to hang with when Will and Ron were busy, had someone to make fun of people he hated with. He had his best fucking friend back.

But that didn't stop him from wanting to fucking slap Dominic that night at dinner.

"I'm just saying that Percy's not here-"

"You're not asking Annabeth to the ball," Nico dismissed. "I'm not having you fall hopelessly in love with her."

"You did with Percy."

"That was forever ago," Nico scowled. "And it was horrible. You deserve better."

"Like who?" Dominic asked. "Annabeth's hot-"

"Annabeth's a mother," Nico corrected. "A married mother."

Dominic rolled his eyes. "I could say just as friends. She has no one to go with."

Nico jabbed him with his fork. "Say it again and I'll stab this through your hand."

"She's so smart," Dominic stressed. "I love smart girls, and her eyes-"

Nico stabbed it through Dominic's hand just as he promised.

* * *

As the ball and Christmas grew closer, Nico shadow traveled to different shops and towns to get his Christmas shopping done. On top of it all, he got Ron new dress robes because of the horrid things their mother had sent with him. Those things...he didn't know how she expected him to wear them and still remain sane. Or alive, for that matter. But Nico would never argue with his mother.

His mother...he had two, Maria and Molly. And two fathers, Hades and Arthur. He could only hope that Voldemort wouldn't be a third. But Dominic's stupid fucking teasings and jokes kept coming back to him.

Nico took Will with him on one of the gift-shopping sprees, them walking hand in hand in the snow.

"What do you think about this ball?" Will asked.

Nico scowled. "I don't dance. I hate _seeing_ people dance. I hate the idea that everyone's going fucking insane about dancing."

Will laughed. "It's not only about dancing. It's about having a date."

"Yeah, well, my date's perfectly fine just walking with me," Nico dismissed.

"So you wouldn't want to go if your date asked you?" Will asked.

Nico shook his head. "Not if he was going to make me dance."

"What if he just sat and talked with you and ate all the snacks?" Will offered. "Maybe sneak in some alcohol, since you're technically of age."

Nico glanced over at him with a grin. "Then I'd accept. But only for the alcohol."

Will rolled his eyes. "Don't make me regret it."

"No promises."


	15. Chapter 15

Nico woke up on Christmas morning wrapped around his boyfriend, his face buried in Will's shoulder and all his muscles relaxed. Warm. He was so warm.

For the few seconds he remained half asleep and half awake, his body was at peace. Then his mind dragged itself out of its sleepy shell and his muscles tensed with stress again.

But today was Christmas. He was on the Argo II, he was with Will, today was going to be okay.

.

.

His mark was there and burning strong.

.

.

Nico laid his head on Will's chest and listened to his heart until he woke up. That constant beating, the sound of life. It was what his boyfriend stood for and it was what _he _stood for.

"Nico?" Will whispered. "You awake?"

Nico nodded, not moving his head. The noise of Will's life still going was everything. It was his favorite Christmas present. "Have been for a little bit."

Will ran his fingers through Nico's hair. "We should get up sometime."

Nico groaned. "I know. Just five more minutes."

Five minutes. Then ten, then twenty. Finally, Will sat them both up himself. "Neeks, we can't sleep all day."

Nico frowned. "I wasn't sleeping."

"Fine," Will corrected. "We can't lay around all day."

Nico pulled himself off of Will and stretched. Anubis was grumbling in his sleep nearby, maybe at the foot of the bed or towards the door.

"What are the plans?" Will asked. "Besides the ball tonight."

"Um... presents, eat food...what else is there? A mid-afternoon dance?"

Will kissed his cheek. "Smartass."

Nico leaned into his touch before looking down at the presents. Anubis had curled himself around them, using the one from Mrs. Weasley as a pillow. He never got rid of that sweater like Ron, no, he looked forward to receiving it. The love.

"You know, I still wonder how you just brought a hellhound into Hogwarts," Will said as he caught sight of Anubis.

"Half hellhound," Nico corrected. "He can pass off as a regular dog. Nobody says anything so he stays."

Will pet Anubis with his foot. "Even if they did, I can't see you getting rid of him."

"Never," Nico agreed. "If I survive all this, he'll come with me to wherever the hell I go from here. I can't stay at Hogwarts forever. Or Camp Half-Blood, for that matter."

"But you'll stay with me," Will assured. "We'll stay together. Forever."

Nico looked down at his lap. "We might die long before then."

"I know. But then we'll be together in the Underworld. Now let's open our damn presents. It's Christmas."

Nico cracked a smile. "Together forever. That's a good Christmas gift."

"Just wait to see what I got you."

* * *

Most gifts were common. Books from Hermione, for example, or the sweater from Mrs. Weasley. They weren't unwanted, however. They were loved.

Then there were the other gifts. Hazel got him a photo album of little Nicole and the pictures he had let her take of them together. Annabeth and Percy, the same with their little Silena.

Dominic's was the strangest, a dark collar for Anubis and a dark bracelet for Nico. A single paper also laid in the box.

_I had a feeling that this would one day come in handy. Idk Neeks, I'm a fucking psychic so I didn't pass the idea up. Hephaestus cabin helped me. Click that button on your bracelet and it'll alert Anubis of all your stats: your whereabouts, vital signs, etc._

His writing had just gotten worse over the years. Nico could barely read it despite his dyslexia having been taken away. It was questionable, made him a little wary for the future, but he put the bracelet on himself and the collar on Anubis.

.

.

Nico later sat with Will against the wall, the unwrapped presents around them, Anubis's head resting on his legs. All that was left were the presents for each other. Will looked more nervous than ever.

"Want me to go first?" Nico asked. "I have multiple things."

Will nodded. "But Neeks, you didn't have to get me multiple-"

Nico threw a box at him. "I got us both dress robes. For tonight. Not really a gift."

Will pulled the robes out of the box and grinned. "I thought you hated dances."

"Even if we're going for the food, we need to look nice," Nico explained. "And…" He blushed. "I want to see you in wizard clothes."

Will raised an eyebrow but didn't comment, setting the robes to the side. "They look expensive."

"I hope so, they damn well were."

Nico grabbed the book bag he had brought the previous night and searched through it. "Your other gifts are to do with wizards, kinda, but you'll like them."

"I'll like anything you give me," Will promised.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He grabbed a smaller bag and handed it to Will. "Here."

Will opened the bag and peered inside it. "Potions?"

"Healing potions," Nico explained. "And then…" He grabbed a book and handed it to him. "A wizard's side to healing. It'll help you become a better healer. And-" He went to search again before just handing the book bag over. "The whole thing's for you."

Will took the book bag and looked through the gifts. A first aid kit charmed to be a small bag that could fit in his pocket, another bag charmed to hold all of the potions, more books on ancient medicine and new ideas. By the time the bag was empty, Will's eyes were wide and thankful.

"Nico, you didn't have to give me this much...you really didn't have to get this much…"

"But you like it all...right?" Nico asked.

Will nodded. "Absolutely. But-"

"Then I'm glad I did. No buts," Nico dismissed. "Oh, and I'm making sure you graduate med school. You're not getting out of it because I got thrown into another war."

Will shook his head. "You're so stubborn."

"You know I am."

Will kissed his cheek before turning to face him. "First... we're going to have an early dinner."

Nico frowned. "And why…?"

"Because. I'm giving you a normal, human date. It's part of your present," Will grabbed one of his bags. "You deserve it. You know you do."

Nico blushed and let out a whisper of words too jumbled to understand.

Will laughed. "What? Not expecting romance? You slept in my bed last night. We've-"

"I know, I know," Nico cut in. "I can't help I get flustered. I'm Italian."

"What does that possibly have to do with-"

"It's an excuse," Nico mumbled. "Now let's get to this date or whatever."

Will grinned and got two plates out, setting them out. Then he got two wine glasses. "All are enchanted so we can have whatever we want."

"That alcohol you mentioned we'd sneak in to the ball…"

.

.

They had wine with dinner, Nico sticking to an old Italian cliché while Will had lobster. The second wasn't something Nico expected, but hell, he didn't really give a fuck if Will liked seafood or not.

They talked. Chatter. Some silence that seemed to grow them closer together. Some kisses.

A date. A real date. Nico could pretend he was a normal teen, just for a little bit. Even the dark mark on his arm didn't burn as much.

When he was nearly finished with his food, Nico looked up to see that Will had placed a ring box in front of him. A fucking-

"Don't panic, it's not what you think."

Nico blinked. "I almost choked on my damn pasta, Will."

Will scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry. I should have said that before showing you."

Nico snorted. "Yeah, unless you were trying to kill me. What is it?"

Will's cheeks soon were tinted pink. "Well...I know since my body is older it's weird, but really you're older than me, and we're getting to that age (or only I am, technically)... especially for demigods...and when you're done with Hogwarts, this quest, the war, we're going to find a way to age you back up, right? And...and well...I can't promise we'll both be alive then, so I wanted to give you the ring now. For then. Promised to each other for then. Much later. I just want you to have it incase...incase you die. This war...it's a _war_. It worries me."

"You...you got me a promise ring?" Nico asked.

Will shrugged. "Kinda? It... I made it for whenever I would get to propose to you. I _made _it. That's why I want you to have it as a promise ring, since you might die before the time's right. I want you to have it."

Nico set his fork down and picked up the box. "Will...I...I don't have one to give you in return."

Will smiled. "Is that an acceptance?"

"Of course it's a fucking acceptance, you fucking-"

"Open it," Will ordered. "I want you to see it. Open it."

Nico opened the box and brushed his finger over the ring nestled inside it. Black bands woven together with yellow ones. Not too jewelry-like. Simple. But made with such detail…

"Will…" Nico breathed. "How long did this take you to make?"

"It doesn't matter," Will dismissed. "Do...do you like it?"

Nico slipped the ring onto his finger and grinned at the perfect fit. "I love it."

Will took his hand and looked at it. "Well...it does look good on you."

Nico rolled his eyes but couldn't kill his smile. "Even if I die in this war... we're promised together. Nobody can take that away from us. Not even the gods… Will, I promise myself on the Styx to you and you only. They can't take that away."

Will's eyes widened before he also smiled. "And I to you. I promise myself on the Styx to you."

No matter how many times the gods pulled them apart, no matter how many lives they lived and wars they fought, they belonged to each other.

The ring was a perfect fit. _Perfect_. It was part of him just like an organ. No one would take it from him if he was alive to fight it.


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: I made an Instagram account where I'll be posting pictures related to my works. Account is pey.119**

**I also wrote half of this while in line at the BMV so...I guess we should be thankful for its long lines cause I actually got some writing done? Maybe?**

* * *

The Yule Ball was everything Nico expected. Shit.

He stood with Will against the far wall, arms crossed over his chest as he watched the champions enter the room. Hermione had told him that she was going with Krum but made him promise to not tell the others, and yet seeing her with him was still a slight shock. Ron's face was priceless.

"We dress up good," Will commented. "You look good as a rich person."

Nico raised an eyebrow. "What does that even mean-"

"You look good in those robes, especially with that ring on your finger."

Nico blushed before scowling. "We're in public, William."

"Right, I forgot." Will wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "You have the reputation of a big bad Hufflepuff to keep up."

Nico rolled his eyes but didn't lean away from the touch. "You also look good tonight, Will. Robes suit you."

Will looked down at his dark robes and their yellow accents. "Well...I do feel pretty fancy in them."

"Good, they were expensive as fuck."

Ron came over to the pair, having already abandoned his date but looking decent in the robes Nico had bought him. A red face didn't help, however. "Nico, look at the head table."

Nico sighed but humored his brother, frowning when he saw Percy Weasley sitting up there, looking smug as fuck. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"Who is it?" Will asked.

"Dunno why," Ron continued. "Did you know about Hermione?"

Nico nodded. "She looks nice."

"You knew that her and Krum-"

"Ron, shut up," Nico pleaded. "You're being a dick."

Will snorted. "Whatever it is you two are fighting about, it looks like it's time to eat. Maybe we should focus on that."

And that's how Nico found himself sitting between a gorgeous Will and a red faced Ron at the feast. The plates were enchanted to have anything they asked for, and Will asked for Italian this time while Nico tried seafood. They ended up switching plates five minutes in.

When the food was finally gone and couples were dancing, Nico stayed at the back table with Will. They passed a bottle of vodka back and forth and leaned against each other, listening to the music and watching the dancers. Ron was fuming nearby with his date sitting in silence, and nothing besides the alcohol made the night fun.

Harry came over after the first dance and sat between them and Ron. "How's it going?"

Nico shrugged as Ron didn't answer. "Boring."

Will elbowed him. "Be nice. It isn't boring. It's…different."

"It's boring."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes, Harry's date leaving with another guy while Nico and Will got the vodka bottle down to the half mark. No one seemed to notice or smell it. The room was spinning.

Hermione came up to them when another song ended, red faced and Krum-less. "Hi!"

"Hi," Harry greeted. The rest of the table stayed silent.

"It's hot, isn't it?" Hermione commented. "Viktor's just gone to get some drinks."

Ron glared at her. "Viktor?" he asked. "Hasn't he asked you to call him Vicky yet?"

Hermione looked at him in surprise. "What's up with you?"

"If you don't know, I'm not going to tell you."

Hermione stared at him, then at Harry, who shrugged, then at Nico. Nico just brought the bottle to his lips.

"Ron, what — ?"

"He's from Durmstrang!" Ron argued. "He's competing against Harry! Against Hogwarts! You — you're —fraternizing with the enemy, that's what you're doing!"

Hermione's mouth fell open. "Don't be so stupid! The enemy! Honestly — who was the one who was all excited when they saw him arrive? Who was the one who wanted his autograph? Who's got a model of him up in their dormitory?"

Nico smirked. "Who called him cute for a guy and made me promise not to tell anyone-"

He got hit by both Ron and Will at once. But his brain was bubbly enough to just shrug the whole encounter off.

"Nico, what the _hell_-"

"I know you're old enough or whatever, but you should _not_ be drinking," Hermione warned. "Not here. Not everyone is aware of it like we are. Look at you, you're drunk!"

Nico blinked before nodding. "I am. But that's how I chose to celebrate Christmas. Oh, and also with this."

He held out his left hand and showed off the ring Will had gotten him. "We're all probably gonna die, so here's to the future."

Will took the bottle and held it up. "Woo hoo."

Ron hit him again before turning to Hermione. "I suppose he asked you to come with him when you were both in the library?"

Hermione forced the bottle from Will's hands and gave it to Harry. "Get rid of this. And yes, he did. So what?"

Nico looked up at Will. "She took the only fun this stupid dance offered. Wanna go to the Argo II?"

"We never danced," Will whined. Hermione and Ron were having a shouting contest with Harry watching like he didn't know what to do.

"Obvious, isn't it?" Ron was saying. "He's Karkaroff's student, isn't he? He knows who you hang around with… He's just trying to get closer to Harry- get inside information on him- or get near enough to jinx him-"

"You are horribly suspicious, you know that, right?" Nico asked. "The enemy's right under your nose." Silence. "Or, probably. I've been in two wars. It's always the last person you expect."

"So, you?" Ron scowled. "Stay out of this, Nico."

Nico rolled his eyes and looked to Will. "Argo II, please?"

"One dance," Will begged. "Please?"

Nico's eyes scanned the dance floor. Neville was stepping on Ginny's feet. Something in Nico wanted to stop anyone from dancing with his little sister, but his brain was fuzzy and he knew that he didn't need to. She was having the time of her life and he would let her. Who knew what was going to happen in the upcoming years.

Some demigods were seen but none he was friendly with. No Annabeth, no Leo. Dominic was dancing with the third person that night.

"Do we have to?" Nico asked. "I've never danced before."

Will got up and took a second to stabilize himself before pulling Nico to his feet. "One dance. Then we'll go to the Argo II and do whatever the hell you want."

Nico huffed. "Fine, fine, whatever. But I don't know if I'm going to like dancing."

"Well, it's time to see."

A slow song was playing but he didn't recognize it. But when Will held him close to his chest and looked in his eyes, it became his favorite song. And dancing was something he never thought he'd enjoy that much.


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: idk why it came to me but...draco x dominic? Maybe? Idk lemme know what you think**

* * *

Nico woke up with a pounding headache and the haze of sleep still heavy on his mind. He was in bed, he could feel the thin sheets beneath his bare skin, felt the comforter laying over his strewn out body. But his heater known as Will was nowhere in sight.

Once he realized he was alone in bed, Nico opened his eyes and took in the room.

They were on the Argo II, in the room Will had claimed for the quest, or visit, or whatever you wanted to call it. Will was sitting in a chair by the wall, leaned back, his gaze settled on the ceiling.

Sad. Nico could see the sadness in his eyes.

"Will?" he croaked. "What's wrong?"

The hangover was splitting apart his immature skull. He only then realized he was naked under the covers.

"Did our date night end how I think it did?" Nico asked.

Will nodded.

"I thought you got used to me being...in the wrong body," Nico said. "Why are you upset?"

"Your age has nothing to do with why I'm upset," Will snapped.

Nico blinked. "Was I bad-?"

"No, Nico!" Will stood up. "Think for a second! Why the Hades do you have that mark?"

Nico froze. There was something about your heart dropping into your stomach that you could never forget.

Will stared at him in the silence. Maybe that sadness was actually hurt.

"Are you going to explain?" he asked.

Nico looked away. "It's complicated."

"Uncomplicate it."

"I…" Nico sat up. "I've always been the traitor."

"Nico-"

"No, listen to me," Nico snapped. "I am always the traitor. That's who I am. That's the kind of hero I am." He remembered Persephone's pieces of advice and Hecate's. "That's what some people have to be. I'm on the side of the living. I just have to get my hands dirty so no one else has to."

Will sighed. "There's always a right way to do things...but okay, okay, I'll entertain what you're saying. Why do you have the mark?"

"To take Voldemort down from the inside out."

Will blinked. "How?"

"I'm still working on that part."

"Nico!" Will hissed. "Do you know how dangerous that is?!"

"Not anymore dangerous than anything we've done in the past," Nico argued. "Gaea. Tartarus. I've been through worse, Will, and I don't want my family to have to go through that."

Will walked to the bed and sat beside him. "Neeks… I'm sick of you being in life-threatening danger all the time."

"Me too."

"When this is all over, we're going to settle down," Will swore. "We'll fix your age or just live with it and we'll get a house in New Rome. We'll be safe. No more monsters and no more quests and no more Voldemort."

"But I have family here in Europe, now," Nico mumbled.

Will didn't answer but looked to the floor. He could barely feel the rocking of the ship but felt sick.

"We'll figure it out," he repeated hollowly. "As long as we have each other, we can do it."

"You're finishing med school," Nico ordered. "No matter what."

"And we'll be together. No matter what."

"We'll see."

The silence that stretched between them wasn't full of pure love and peace as it used to be.

* * *

The next few days were a haze of Will, Voldemort, and homework. School was going to be starting again and with it the continuing of the tournament. This time, every mention of it sent Dominic and Will's eyes towards him.

But Will still loved him. He still loved him.

_Hecate, show me how to make this worth it. Please._

She never responded. Persephone would, but she wasn't Hecate. She didn't know much of the wizarding world. She didn't know much about Voldemort's plans.

Only Hecate would. Or another follower of Voldemort.

And that's how Nico found himself cornering Draco Malfoy in the darkened and cold halls of Hogwarts.

"Weasley, what are you-"

Nico shadow traveled him to an empty classroom. He wasn't sure what it had originally been for, forgotten over the years as either the teacher was removed or whatever they taught. Malfoy looked around like a trapped animal before backing up, falling over a desk.

"Wait until I tell father-"

"Yeah, not a good idea," Nico cut in. "You aren't going to tell him shit. You aren't going to tell anybody. So get that idea out of you weak, feeble mind before I beat it out."

Malfoy stood up and pointed at him. "Y- You...you just… What did you do? What was that? I can have you sent to Azkaban!"

"Again, no you won't," Nico dismissed. "Say my name to your father and he won't let you. But I don't want him or anyone else knowing about this little meeting, got it? Top secret."

"You really think I would listen to a Weasley, a blood-traitor, bloody hell, a demigod!"

Nico frowned. "And why is demigod now crude? And how did you know I was one? I didn't come with them."

"But you know every single one of them," Draco continued. "And you...you just…" He pointed back at the shadows. "Without a wand!"

"Fine, I'll accept it." Nico leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. "But why are you using it like you use blood-traitor? I don't agree with your reasoning for blood-traitor and mudblood and all of that, but I can see why you say and think it, what your father has pumped into you. So I want to know why you've been doing thinking on demigods and why they've become negative to you."

Draco scowled. "Father said no one at the ministry knew you were coming. Dumbledore just decided to introduce a new species without consulting anyone. Worse yet, no one seems to care."

"But you do."

"Why wouldn't I? Hell, your mind games even got to father!"

Nico pinched the bridge of his nose. This was not what he was expecting when he decided to grill Malfoy.

"You're more hysterical than normal. You know that, right?" Nico asked. "Just...shut up for a minute."

Draco's face darkened some more. "Who are you to-"

"Were you adopted?" Nico asked. "Or did your father have an affair and end up with the baby-"

Before Nico could blink Malfoy had his wand out and at his throat. The wood itched at Nico's skin.

"Who are you?" Malfoy asked, voice cold. "There's no way you could know that. Only me, my father, and mother know. Not another soul. If word got out…"

"I'm not planning on telling anyone, so calm your pissy self and sit down," Nico ordered. "We should talk."

"How do you know-"

Nico walked over to a desk and sat down. The dust across its surface confirmed his suspicions about the room and its forgotten whereabouts.

"Sit, Malfoy," Nico repeated. "And trust that I'm telling the truth about all of this. Your life is going to change for the better."

"Is that so?" Sarcasm dripped from Draco's tongue.

Nico frowned. "Well, let me ask you this. Have you ever had a monster attack you? A monster not of the wizarding or muggle world? A monster no one could see but yourself? Or did they see someone with a hat instead of horns, or a baseball bat instead of a sword?"

Malfoy was silent for the first time. He stared at Nico with his mouth stuck open, moving with no words coming out, the anger finally disappearing from his face and energy. After minutes of this he let out a sigh and collapsed into the seat beside Nico, his wand lowering to his side.

"Now," Nico said, "let me explain."


	18. Chapter 18

Nico scuffed at a spot on the floor with his boot and wondered where it had come from, when was the last time someone noticed it, when this room had been stepped in last. It was a castle, after all. An old one, older than even the _idea _of America.

"Even if I believed you, what am I supposed to do about it?" Malfoy asked.

Nico looked up from the floor at the first sound in a good ten minutes. Malfoy had been silent, red-faced, thinking. Now he stared at Nico in acceptance.

"You have options." Nico reached into the shadows and grabbed his sword, pulling it out. "This is how I protect myself. You're going to need one and you're going to have to learn how to use it."

Malfoy jumped at the show of powers before scowling. "A wand will work perfectly fine. Swords are in the use of _savages,_ mudbloods,-"

"Wands don't work against Greek or Roman monsters," Nico replied. "Don't you think I would if they could? They're so much easier to carry and hide. But you're going to need a sword or knife or _something_. Or you're going to die."

"I've been just _fine-_"

"Once you're aware of what you are, the monsters are going to come for you. It's just what happens."

"Well, isn't that _convenient,_" Malfoy drawled. "It completely makes sense."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Whether you believe or not, it's just how it's going to go. But you're different that other demigods. You, me, and Dominic are the only three wizard-demigods. Well, so I think. That one girl from our first year here was a little suspicious. But all children of Hecate are."

_She's one of my least favorites,_ Hecate defended.

_Thanks for finally speaking to me._

"Hecate, that's...?"

"The goddess of magic."

Malfoy scoffed. "A goddess of magic. I'm having a serious conversation with a _Weasley_ about a goddess of magic."

"You can stop saying my name like that now."

"You aren't even a Weasley by blood, why are you so_ loyal _to them?" Malfoy asked.

Loyal. Nico accepted his new fatal flaw. It was something good to die for.

"They're my family, they raised me, and if it came down to it, I'd kill or die for them."

* * *

Nico laid on Will's bed and scowled down at his homework. Nothing in his brain wanted to focus on the paper or the quill in his hand. All he could think about was Malfoy and Voldemort and the tournament.

_Do you know who his godly parent is? _he asked.

Hecate still didn't answer. He didn't know what godly problems kept her attention away from him, but it was pretty damn infuriating since this was her quest, after all.

And he couldn't think of a damn thing to write for the damn paper.

"Whatcha doing?" Will asked, plopping down beside him and looking at the paper over his shoulder. "Ew, homework."

Nico rolled his eyes. "It's necessary. But I have more important things on my mind."

"Like Voldemort?"

Nico nodded. "And Malfoy."

Will played with the feathers on Nico's quill. "Are you ever not thinking about Voldemort?"

"Nope," he sighed. "You tend not to forget about life-threatening things."

"But Malfoy's not life threatening."

"Malfoy is..." Nico waved the quill. "I don't know how to describe it. He's...he's me."

Will raised an eyebrow.

"No, listen," Nico ordered. "He has the father everyone thinks is evil. He's being tempted to join the dark side. Remember how Kronos wanted me? It's the same thing but even worse. It's coming from his own father. I guess...I guess I want to save him."

"Do you think you can?"

Nico shrugged. "But I'm going to try. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I didn't."

"But you also have Voldemort on your hands," Will stressed. "You have a lot on your plate. You need to delegate."

"How? You want to deal with Voldemort? Get your own mark?"

"You know that's not what I mean."

"Then what did you mean?"

Will stared into his eyes, those blue irises not melting with love but cold with a challenge. They seemed to always be challenging each other nowadays.

Where would they end up, even if everything turned out okay? Will's family and friends were in America. His school, his life was in America. And now Nico's family was in England. His first ever _family._ They loved him despite him being a son of Hades. They raised him.

He had a mother and father.

He'd never let that go.

"Have someone else try to help him," Will continued. "Hell, Dominic knows everything that's going on. Have him help out."

"Dominic isn't the...brightest."

"But he's a good friend."

Nico nodded. "He is."

"So have him go talk to Malfoy," Will urged. "And you focus on actually making your move against Voldemort."

Nico threw his quill aside. "I don't know how. I have no fucking idea, Will. It's Voldemort. He's got spies everywhere. He'll see anything coming."

"Well, you didn't get that mark for no reason. You have to do something with it. You...you didn't risk your life and what others think about you for nothing. That mark isn't no deal, Nico. It's...it's not nothing."

Nico looked down at his sleeveless arms, stared at the mark sitting in the open. It radiated dark energy, but so did the rest of him.

"It reminds me of my father, sometimes," Nico admitted.

* * *

Nico wore sleeves whenever he wasn't in Will's room on the Argo. Sometimes it got hot, that mark would itch around certain people, it would be uncomfortable when he knew others knew. Dominic, Will. They stared at it sometimes when they thought he wasn't looking.

But he was. He noticed. And somehow, he got more annoyed at their uncomfortableness than sharing it with them.

(He saw darkness as an aura like that when he met his father for the first time, his helm of darkness, his robes made of souls)

He went to Dominic the hour after Will mentioned it, though he'd never admit that was why.

They sat by the lake with their robes wrapped tight around them and their Hufflepuff scarves on. Nico updated him about Malfoy, his unknown godly parent, his hate for demigods, his ability to fall to the dark side.

"Malfoy, a demigod..." Dominic shook his head. "How didn't I, of all people, see it coming?"

Nico shrugged. "Maybe me finding out is going to change things. Maybe I really can save him from a dark future."

Dominic bit his lip as he thought before shrugging. "I mean, I guess it's worth a try. Does he know you're Voldemort's bitch?"

Nico shook his head. "Not yet. I don't know if I can trust him."

"Who do you think his parent is?" Dominic asked, looking up at the sky. "Zeus? Hell no. Um...Athena?"

"He's not that smart."

"True. Um...Hera?"

"Doesn't have demigod kids. But he is a bitch like her."

"Hera needs to get on the godly bandwagon," Dominic muttered. "Okay, um... Hephaestus?"

"Well, he is ugly enough."

"Um, excuse you, he's hot," Dominic retorted. "But go ahead, keep your eyes on the older medic you've got."

"Will isn't that old," Nico argued. "And I'm technically older."

"If you have to say technically, you already lost the argument."

Nico snorted. "Says you, of all people. I can see you dating a kid of Apollo and being like, 'well, we're not _technically_ siblings'."

"Because we wouldn't be."

"You know how we all think of it." Nico sat forward and wrote a few sentences on his homework. The quill rustled in the cold breeze.

(Friendship was easier than love, being with Dominic showed him this. But he couldn't stop loving Will and he sure as hell could never forget him)

"Will you try talking to Malfoy, then?" Nico asked. "If you find him hot than this should be an easy favor."

"_Easy_? Talking to someone you deem as hot isn't _easy_."

"Fine, appreciated," Nico corrected.

Dominic nodded. "Yeah, okay, I'll talk to him. But I can't promise anything."

"You can promise not to hit on him," Nico replied. "It'll scare him away if you do. And don't pull any physic shit, either. That'll really scare him."

"I can't help if the spirit comes through-"

Nico slapped the back of his head before going back to his homework. "Ignore the spirit!"

"You can't just-"

"Ignore. The. Spirit."


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: Who should be Malfoy's godly parent? Comment ideas!**

* * *

Dominic had a much harder time getting Draco alone than Nico had. He couldn't sneak out of a shadow, couldn't pull him into one, couldn't find him at any point of the day when he wasn't surrounded by other Slytherins.

_Whistle, whistle, dark and cold whistle_

The voices. They definitely didn't help.

His "sixth sense" used to be just that- a sense. Now it was visions, dreams, voices. Things that made him feel fucking insane. Things that probably made him fucking insane.

His time at Camp Half-Blood had been spent in hopes of figuring it out, finding others who shared his experiences, finding out how to quiet the voices. But he never found anything but a way to train until he was too tired to listen to them.

Was it the wizarding blood mixing with Apollo's? Was it both mixing with what mortals called psychics? Was it all just in his fucking mind?

_Whistle, whistle, dark and cold whistle, gravestones and blood dripping into the soil_

They did sound like prophecies, sometimes, or small lines that could be from them. But they were never full prophecies and he wasn't the fucking oracle, so why would they have any business in his mind?

They made him miss the days when he had time to chase that Hecate girl around the castle and talk to Nico about reincarnation as if that had solved everything. But now he was chasing Malfoy because...well, he did find him hot like he had that girl, but that wasn't the _main_ incentive to the chase, or at least not the incentive he would tell Nico about.

Nico wanted him to "save" Malfoy. He wanted him to bring him closer to the demigod world and further away from evil. But he never really saw evil in Malfoy to begin with, just the need to impress his dad that Nico also had.

He saw a lot of things in Malfoy that he saw in Nico. And those were the things that caught his attention the most, attracted him. But there was a reason he and Nico never got together. There just was no romance there, never, not even a little bit. They were as platonic as friends could get. But Malfoy was a different story.

Something about the way he acted gave Dominic butterflies. Good butterflies. Not the ones that made him sick whenever the voices started talking.

_Among the stones of the damned, evil rises by the Ghost King's hand_

Yeah, that shit definitely sounded like prophecy lines. And none of it sounded good.

* * *

Dominic finally found Malfoy alone after dinner one night, the newfound demigod wandering the castle well after he was allowed out of his dormitory. Dominic himself probably shouldn't have been there, probably should have been on the Argo, but as long as they didn't get caught who cared.

They caught each other's eyes and stopped in their tracks. Malfoy drew his wand, thought about it, put it away.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed.

Dominic crossed his arms. "I could ask you the same question."

Malfoy shook his head and continued on. Dominic grabbed his arm before he could go far, felt those butterflies fly around his stomach.

"Wait, I wanted to talk to you."

Malfoy pulled his arm away. "Is that why you've been stalking me?"

Dominic rubbed his fingers where his skin had momentarily met Malfoy's. "You noticed."

"Yeah, I noticed. Fucking mudblood."

Dominic rolled his eyes. "Please, find a new insult. One your daddy didn't teach you."

Malfoy drew his wand and held it to Dominic's neck. He would have been scared but that pale hand was shaking.

"_What do you want_?"

Dominic moved his fingers to Malfoy's but didn't move the wand. "Keep that pointed at me if it makes you feel better, but we both know you're not going to do anything with it."

"_What do you want?_!"

"To save you!"

"From what? What do I need saving from?"

"Yourself. Your father. Voldemort. Everything Nico has needed saving from."

_Loss of a brother, loss of another,_

_The Ghost King falters_

(Later that night he'd remember what he heard, would be sick at what those words could mean, would finally start to think of them as prophecies. But in the moment all he could think about was the boy before him)

"Can we just talk?" Dominic asked. "I just want to talk. Hopefully somewhere besides a hallway we could be found in any second."

Malfoy glared him down before slowly lowering his wand. "I don't need saving."

"Let's just talk," Dominic pleaded.

They both looked over at the sound of far off footsteps. No doubt it was some teacher that heard Malfoy's yelling, and the last thing either of them needed was Snape or McGonagall finding them there.

"Fine," Malfoy hissed. "Let's get out of here."


End file.
